WINDHOEK – Government must fund all political parties currently represented in parliament with at least N$5 million to allow them to successfully carry out their mobilisation activities for the upcoming national elections, says Nudo.
The party’s deputy secretary general, Vetaruhe Kandorozu, made the proposal in a recent exclusive interview with New Era, lamenting the fact that limited funds at the disposal of opposition political parties is the reason why most opposition parties cannot campaign across the entire country. He says limited funding restricts parties from posing a serious challenge to the ruling party. “All the parties represented in parliament must be given N$5 million so that they can conduct their election campaigns. This will allow all parties to reach out to the masses,” said Kandorozu. According to him in most cases opposition parties do not have money to transport their observers to polling stations or to take their voters to go and vote. “This situation also contributes to voter apathy because some people do not have the means to get to the polling stations,” he said.
“When the elections are declared we must take into consideration that all parties are equal, because we are all fighting for the same prize, therefore they must all get the same funding,” Kandorozu added. Political analyst, Dr Hoze Riruako, hesitantly concurred with Kandorozu’s proposal, but cautioned that the amount provided to each party can only be known once a cost analysis is done to determine how much parties would require to run political campaigns. “This could be a turnaround strategy for the opposition and government will be kept on its toes to perform, because we will have a better opposition,” he said. Riruako said although he cannot quantify it, he is of the opinion that funding political parties would ensure quality campaigns, especially from the side of the opposition parties.
By Mathias Haufiku